Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Recruiters Say Job Boards Are Here to Stay

My last Forbes article created quite a stir in the recruitment world and a lot of recruiters left comments and posted their own articles to dispute it. I wrote about how job boards and resumes are no longer useful and how LinkedIn will put them both out of business. Recruiters, on the other hand, believe that job boards are here to stay. In order to get their side of the story, I reached out to two of them who could provide more information and research on the topic.

Chris Russell, a ten year veteran of the online job board industry, is the founder of allcountyjobs.com. James Durbin, with twelve years of experience as a recruiter, is the founder of socialmediaheadhunter.com.

Why are job boards still important/relevant?

Chris Russell: Because employers still rely on them greatly, especially for small business which typically practices reactive recruiting. When they have a need, they post a job. Plus job boards are good at driving lots of eyeballs to a job listing whether it’s for a certain industry or location. That’s why niche and local sites will always be around.James Durbin: They are faster signals to the market. Searching LinkedIn takes time, and only works in targeted searches. Major job boards tell you who is available, right this second. Those resumes are a signal from the job seeker, and create good churn in employment markets, since it forces companies to move quickly if they don’t want to lose available candidates.

How does LinkedIn fit in the job search/recruitment equation?Chris Russell: From what I hear from the recruiters I talk to it’s used primarily as a sourcing tool, not as a job board.James Durbin: A fantastic, updated database that in varying degrees, showcases bright and active talents. The apply button sounds good, but from a technical standpoint, it’s no different than “apply online,” which causes huge amounts of resume spam from candidates not willing to read the job before sending the resume. LinkedIn is a different kind of database, with different strengths, that has more user data and interaction. A powerful tool, but still only a portion of the process.

Do you have any research on people getting hired through job boards versus other means?Chris Russell: I have some testimonials but I’ll also point to Gerry Crispins recent sources of hire study that says 27% of hires are made through job boards. For many of my clients, my job boards are their only source of hire.James Durbin: Gerry Crispin is the one to go to for this –but be careful – comments like “referrals are our biggest source” doesn’t cover modern social media or employer branding and there’s a limit. Few companies can ramp up their referral hiring more than it already is. Folks have been trying that for years. The well goes dry too quickly, and most people overvalue their ability to judge their friends.